


Choosing My Fate

by Islandgurl



Category: Fate/Apocrypha, Fate/EXTRA, Fate/Grand Order, Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Fate/stay night (Anime 2006), Fate/stay night - All Media Types, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (Anime 2014)
Genre: Archer - Freeform, Assassin - Freeform, Berserker - Freeform, F/M, Lancer - Freeform, Saber - Freeform, caster - Freeform, rider - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-09-28 15:22:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20428133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Islandgurl/pseuds/Islandgurl
Summary: Rachel Diamond, next in line to become head of her house must choose a servant to participate in the Holy Grail War. Her expectations are to choose a worthy servant, and win the war for her house name. But who will she choose? Will they be the right servant for her?





	1. Chapter 1

930pm, I have one more hour. I sigh. Most girls my age are out drinking and meeting boys at the bars on their Saturday nights, but not me. Instead I'm spending my twentieth birthday choosing a servant to fight in a war that I don't even want to be in. But this is what I've been trained for, what my father has manicured me for, to be the strongest opponent and win the Holy Grail.

I look at myself in the mirror, my long brown hair perfectly curled, my blue eyes with too much makeup for my liking and my tanned skin which they have sprayed some sort of shimmering mist on. I have spent the entire day getting dolled up to be presented to these legendary beings who I am supposed to lead into battle. Just thinking about it makes my chest tight and then air hard to breath. My nerves are a complete mess. The very idea of failing our name, our house, my father...I can't bare it, my eyes water as I stare blankly at my face in the mirror. I could lose my life in this war. I just hope my training is enough, I hope I choose the right servant, the best servant! 

I am thankful that we are extremely wealthy. My father could buy any servant I want which means I can pick whatever class I want. I choose based on heroic spirit, class, rank, and how well we fight together. The first day of choosing is just the meet and greet. I meet all of the servants and their sellers then spend the night ”getting to know” them as my father says. I wish I was out doing what I want to do. My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on my door.

”Yes?” I ask.

”Rachel, everyone is waiting for you, are you dressed?” My mother asks. 

”Not yet, can you help me?” I ask. 

”Of course.” She replies and walks into the room. My mother is and always has been a well dressed woman and marvels in her skill for finding clothing that is far too trendy for my liking. She gives me a look of concern then walks over to my gown draped over the couch still in its bag. She pulls off the pink plastic cover reading Jovani on the front and holds the dress up in front of me. 

”Have you looked at it yet? It's very beautiful. Your father had it made in Paris. There are no other gowns like this.” She says.

I glance at it and sigh.  
”It's beautiful.” I say sadly.  
She looks at me and shakes her head.

”I know this is the last place you want to be, but this is your duty to our house and as the daughter of the wealthiest man in the united kingdom. We have trained you with the best combat instructors and the best mage casters don't put their efforts to waste Rachel!. You are unbeaten at every level, you are ready!There is no need to be nervous, hold your head high for you are the prize here not them!” She says, trying her best to pep talk me.

”I'm scared mom, what if I choose the wrong servant? What if we don't work well together? What if I get hurt or worse?” I ask.

I take the dress from her and she helps me into it. It really was a beautiful dress, champagne in color that shimmered all the way to the floor. It was slim all the way down and flowed out the bottom with a slit all the way up to my hip on the left side. The bodice was low cut with sheer lace up the front between my breasts and small straps to keep it up. The back came down to the top of my tailbone leaving my back fully exposed . It was a bit too revealing and this wasn't helping my nerves at all.

”See Rachel? You look stunning!. You need to stop worrying so much and have faith in your instincts.” She smiles at me. I can see I'm getting nowhere with this conversation, I give in to her attempts to console me.

”You're right. Thank you, mom.” I say reluctantly. 

She can tell I'm hating this. ”Rachel, it's going to be fine!” She rests a hand on my cheek and kisses my forehead. ”Let's get going.” She says. 

She takes my hand and we walk out into the grand hall towards the courtyard. The festivities have already started and I can hear the crowd gathering outside as their cheers echo through the hallways. They must be announcing the servants.

It becomes harder to breath with every step I take through the hallway. My house is one of the largest in London. It is the typical gangster type building with large windows, too many rooms, an odd amount of bathrooms and three pools. I'm not sure why we need three pools. it's situated in the middle of gardens and sanctuaries that run for miles. 

Today I view the servants in the courtyard centered in the middle of the property. They will be lined up at each pillar that surround a circular patio, watching me as I walk the circle examining each one individually. My father says having an attraction to one can benefit the battle later and getting emotionally attached is a good thing. But what would a heroic spirit want with a twenty-year-old rich girl who has spent her entire life training to kill? I sound like a teenage thriller.

We have made it down the spiral stairs that lead to the first floor and into the foyer ahead, I see the double sliding glass doors are open to the courtyard letting all the commotion in. There must be at least two hundred people here to watch me. This is where we stop and wait for my announcement. I feel my stomach turning as my entire body clenches from my nerves. Please don't puke. I tell myself. My mother gives me a short pat on the back of reassurance which did not help at all.  
I can hear them announce my name over the speakers. 

”Rachel Diamond!” I jump slightly as the crowd erupts with cheers and I nearly pass out. I'm gasping for air as I hold my chest trying to regain my composure. 

”Rachel be strong! This is not the time for nerves! These servants need to see strength!” My mother snaps at me. I whimper.

”Come on Rachel you can do this.” I whisper to myself.  
I start to focus, using my teachings and draw mana in. It was always a good way to calm myself and center my emotions . I close my mind from everything, silence in my head now. As I draw energy a breeze pics up as my thoughts center to the task at hand.

”Rachel please approach the line of servants!” the speakers say. My eyes flick open.

I even out my breathing and begin to take the first few steps through the hallway and into the open patio overlooking the courtyard. There are many people here scattered around everywhere watching me make my appearance. I hear a few gasps and awe’s as I come into the open following the stone path to the center.

I see seven figures, all different, standing in a circle with lights above and below them. I can see each one has their own weapon in hand and each one looks completely different from the other.. Four strong looking men, one woman, and two who knows what the hell they are. Those one's scare me the most. I will be avoiding them as much as I can.

I keep walking into the center avoiding eye contact with them. I can hear one chuckle at me as I walk by, but I ignore his insolence and continue on. Finally I've reached the center of the courtyard with all servants surrounding me. This is quite intimidating, any of these spirits could take my life at any point in time and there would be nothing my house could do about it. I push those thoughts out of my mind and look up to the speaker.

”Rachel Diamond! Heir the Diamond House, the highest ranking mage in London. Undefeated in Long range archery, fire manipulation, and hand to hand combat.” I have another skill no one knows about but my trainers. I am only to use it when I need it the most, for it can destroy cities if not done right.

” You have been chosen as the first master in the Holy Grail war! You will begin the three day ceremony tonight. May your choosing be a success!” says the man on the speaker.

Flames explode as he finishes his sentence. I roll my eyes at the dramatic effects my father has added. That seems to catch the eye of the servant in blue ahead of me as he smiles at me. I glance at him for a minute then lower my eyes waiting for the next instruction.

”Rachel you may start with any servant you wish, their name, class, and ranking will be announced to you as you approach them. Please examine them thoroughly.” The speaker says. I look around at them and begin. I will begin with the most inhumane type I guess.

Starting from my left, there is what looks like something sort of human. His skin is black as night and his limbs were unusually long. He has claws that come into sharp points making his fingers look longer than they should be and one arm is completely wrapped in black cloth. His face is half covered with a skull shaped mask that is sewn into his skin. He was draped in black robes with a hood over his head. Overall he looked like death and smelled of it. He cackles at me in a high pitched voice as I approach him. ”Crazy mother fucker”. I think to myself. As I get closer I hear the announcement .

”Hassan of the Cursed Arm  
Old Man of the Mountain  
Hanam, Assassin class, 2 star rating..” 

My father would approve of him for his stealthy skills, but for myself? I'd rather not be paired with someone who might eat my soul while I sleep. I shudder. I do the right thing and take my time examining him as he smiles a toothy grin. Shudder again and move on. Next please! 

I head to the right of him, each servant is placed twenty feet between each other, I guess they are trying to avoid any complications. 

My next servant is female. I cannot see her eyes but she wears purple robes with a large hood and a sly smile peeking out of it. 

”Medea from the Age of the Gods  
Witch of Colchis  
Witch of Betrayal, ” as the speaker says the last words she snarls. 

”Caster class, 3 star rating.” the speaker finishes his introduction. 

3 stars...I think to myself. That doesn't sound very good. 

”But she holds a unique item that can help you in your battles.” I look at her and she smiles at me. 

She Whispers. ”Rule breaker.” to me and giggles. I smile back at her. The rule breaker, a dagger that can change the rules of the war in many ways. Now that is something to have in your arsenal.  
”Thank you Medea.” next servant. 

To the right of caster is an extremely handsome man, with a strong muscular build. He wears a blue tight suit that shows off every bulging muscle he has and silver armour pauldrons.. I approach him trying my best to keep my eyes off his body and on his face as I stand in front of him. He gives me a sexy smirk and winks. My cheeks start to warm as I look into his crimson eyes.

”Hey Sweetheart, if you choose me i'll make sure you win this war.” He takes my hand and kisses it then looks up to listen to the speaker.

”Cú Chulainn  
Blue Spearman of the Wind, Lancer class, 3 star rating.” 

Hmm another 3 star rate. He would be a good match and he is very nice to look at. My eyes trail down his body again. I bite my lip not even knowing I was doing it. He chuckles at me. 

”We would have a lot of fun together little lady.” Another wink from him.  
I roll my eyes. He's trying way too hard. My eyes are drawn from his face over to his weapon, now that is something to stare at. A legendary lance, I’ve trained a lot with lances and would like to try this one out. I hold my hand out.

”May I?”I ask. He looks slightly confused but hands it over. The minute I feel it in my hands I sense its power and destruction. It was incredible. I step back and spin it around myself the crowd starts to oo and awe at me. I roll my eyes again. I haven't done anything. He is watching me with wild eyes as I swing his lance back and forth. Time to move on before I accidentally make my decision right now. I smirk back at him and wink. Then I throw his lance to him and move on. 

Next down the way is another equally handsome man. Why do they have to look so good? It's really not fair for the creepy servants. I walk over to him and stand directly in front. He is taller than the last servant and built just the same, although he has at least ten years on me. White hair, red cloak over top a black tight shirt and black pants.

”Heroic Spirit shirou Emiya, Archer class, 4 star rating.”

I smile at the sound of 4 star rating. Damn, and he's hot too. I look him up and down once more, he tilts his head at me. 

”You're a strong mage. Pairing with you would be a guarantee win.” He says. 

”And how do you know I am strong?” I ask.

”The aura around you, and the mana draw you made before you entered the courtyard. I haven't felt it that strong in a long time.” He says and crosses his arms.  
He is a very straight faced and serious man. To the point. But I bet I can get a smile out of him.

”Observant you are! You've been keeping those archer eyes on me haven't you?” I stick my tongue out at him. He finally gives me a smile.

”I think everyone here has miss, some more than others.” He replies.

My cheeks are hot to the touch now as I look around. He has some wit to him, which keeps things interesting. 

”Well don't tell anyone, but so far you are at the top of my list.” I whisper. He chuckles.

”I hope it stays that way.” He says. Ok this guy is great. Top of the classes so far, handsome and playful. The others have their work cut out for them.

I move on to the next, 3 more to go. This one was barely human, the size of a small house and built like one. His skin was dark and eyes seemed to be missing their pupils, that's scary. He was terrifying to look at but he was definitely strong. 

”Hércules, berserker class, 5 star rating.” 

I gasp. 5 stars!. He lets out a growl which causes me to take a step back. He was monstrous and it scared me to think of losing control of something like this. But he would be a challenging opponent. I don't think even Shirou and I could take him on. Which would mean we would have to ally with one of the others, that is if he is my enemy. Damn. I look over to my father sitting high on his balcony. He's nodding at me. I look back at Hercules, he snarls at me and I move on. Fuck this guy.

My next servant was older than me but not by much, blonde hair, striking eyes and wore a complete suit of gold armor. He looked like a king all glittered up standing there glaring at me . In fact, he was looking ME up and down chuckling to himself. 

”King of Heroes, Linchpin of Heaven, AUO, King of Uruk, King of Babylonia, The Golden King, saber class, 5 star rating.”

I gasp, saber class!. He smirks at me and shakes his head. That was rude, I realize he was the man laughing at me as I entered the courtyard.

”What in the hell are you shaking your head at?” I ask.  
He raises his brows.  
”You! You are hardly worth all of this. I guess money can buy anything these days.” He laughs. Everyone gasps and whispers amongst themselves.  
”Gil! You will keep your mouth shut!” his seller yells at him. He laughs even harder then glares at me. Challenging me. Well challenge accepted! I was never one to back down or let a man treat me like that.

”I would wipe that shitty grin off your face if I were you!. I'm about ready to choose you just so I can watch you stab yourself to death, you sorry excuse for a servant!” I snap.

His smirk fades into a raging snarl.

”I could kill you in two seconds! I would watch your tone with me!” He says glaring at me.

I wonder what would piss off a king the most? I think to myself. Making him kneel before me. I laugh at him.

“Let me remind you who you are here to serve! Now kneel before me!” I say the last words slowly and watch his eyes explode with anger. Just as I thought. 

”KNEEL!” I yell. I can hear some of the other servants laughing. 

”I kneel to no one! Especially not a woman. I am your king and you will bend the knee to me mongrel!” He pulls a sword from the air and attempts to point it at me.

I've had it at this point. I step forward and grab his wrist squeezing his pressure point. He gasps. I twist his wrist upwards exposing that point and dig my thumb into it until he drops the sword and leans forward. I grab the back of his head and lift his eyes to mine.  
I say this in my lowest don't fuck with me tone.  
”Now ...kneel!” and I give it another twist before he can even think about pulling out more swords and he falls to one knee screaming and writhing in pain. I come down close to his ear and say one more thing.  
”You have already lost this war...mongrel.” and I let him go moving on to the next. But before I get two steps away from him he has ten blades appear in front of me pointing at my head. I turn to him only to see Shirou and Cu holding their weapons at his neck intervening. Everyone is silent for a few seconds. 

”Well Gilgamesh, it seems you are in the wrong here, I have not one but two servants who would follow me without even a pact. I suggest you lower your swords and play nice from now on!” I smile at him.

He looks to Shirou and Cu then back at me.  
”You two are weak! Letting a nice set of breasts make decisions for you...it's pathetic.” They don't move.

”Any woman who can disarm a 5 star rated servant with one hand is worth my life over and over again.” Cu chullain says. Shirou nods. I smile.

Gilgamesh glares at them then looks at me again.  
”You will bow to me soon woman!” He yells and his swords disappear.

”And you are on the first of my list to die Gil!” I snap. I turn away from them and let out a breath I've been holding the entire time. I was not ready for any of that and he could have killed me at any moment. I shake it off and carry on, one servant left. Thank God!

I approach him, he has a wild smile, green hair, golden eyes and a striking chiseled face. He was built like the others but with a smaller stature. He was grinning at me. 

”Now there is a force to be reckoned with, you remind me of my sister.” He says. 

”Rider of Red, Achilles, 5 star rating, rider class.” Speaker says.

No way! He is good. There is so much excitement in me. He excels in three different classes but rider class is his best. We would be unstoppable! But…. he is a hot head and doesn’t listen well when in a heated fight..Dam. This is going to be difficult. I've narrowed things down to four so far. Shirou, Medea, Cu chullain, or achilles. I realize that I'm just staring at him in awe. He's smiling back at me just the same.

”Choose me and you will win this war! There is no one better than me!” he boasts and laughs.

Hmm a little to high on himself to. That was kind of a turn off. 

”Thank you Achilles.” I say and walk by. My viewing is over and it’s time for the after party. I'm so tired. It’s been a long day of primping and pampering for this one hour. I wish i could just go to bed and leave this day behind. But father has me performing tonight until the late hours.

I walk into the center of the courtyard and put a hand to my lips then raise it into the sky. This reminds me so much of hunger games. My father keeps telling me he made it up but we all know better than that . Oh well. That’s our house gesture and there’s nothing I can do about that. 

“The viewing has finished, tomorrow we will have servants skill tested on the field. This will be hosted in the simulator for anyone who wishes to join us. The house of Diamond is hosting a party tonight in the ballroom we hope to see you all there. Thank you everyone!” The speaker says as I make my way back towards the entryway to my house. 

I stop for a minute to look back at the servants. I pity them you know, having to serve us in these stupid games for a holy grail that apparently grants wishes. Their lives have been and are worth more than this bullshit.


	2. My first visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sooo I have decided to carry on with this story. It was supposed to be a one shot I wrote a few months back before I knew about Chaldea. So here it goes, I’m still unsure where it’s going to go but I’m letting the story guide me.

“I think it went well.” My father says pouring another glass of Chardonnay.

“I almost died dad! Did you not see the swords points at my head?!”

“You were fine! He wasn’t going to kill you! Don’t be so dramatic! And those servants were there to help.” He takes a long drawn out sip from his glass.

I wouldn’t say that I’m shocked he doesn’t give a shit about my well being or how terrified I was, because he is my father and he is a complete asshole. He only cares about money, and my mother?... well she married him.

“You don’t give a shit about me do you?”

“Oh Rachel, you’re being ridiculous! Calm down, and have some Chardonnay. It is your birthday.” He passes me the bottle and a glass.

I take the glass and smash it against the wall, then I take the bottle and walk out of the room. I can hear my mother calling to me as I slam the door shut.

“Rachel! Put on something nice, you have a performance in two hours!” She calls through the door.

For fuck sake! I hate this place!

I storm into my room guzzling down the bottle of Chardonnay, then I throw it to the floor. I bury my face into a pillow on my bed and start screaming. A tap on my sliding glass door interrupts my hissy fit.

“What the fuck?” I whisper and wait for the sound just to make sure I wasn’t just hearing things. Sure enough the tap again. I leap off my bed pulling my katana out from underneath it. I unsheathe it and walk slowly towards the door cursing myself for leaving the curtains shut I can’t see a thing outside. Another tap louder this time.

“Tap, tap, tap!”

I stop for a minute to gather my wits and muster up enough courage to open the curtains. I swear to god if it’s that big golden dick of a king again I’m going to stab him in that arrogant face of his before he can open his stupid mouth.

I take a deep breath in and with one hand I pull the curtain open, only to see a perfectly sculpted blue body, killer eyes, and a handsome smirk standing on my balcony. I wince at the sight of him, dear god... why do you test me? I form a cross over my chest with one hand as I pray to the lord.

“Heyyyy sweetheart! You going to let me in?” He asks so innocently, like he’s supposed to be here or something.

I open the other curtain so he is in full view and look at him for a minute. Now this servant is either completely stupid, or really smart, for showing up on my door step, I can’t tell at this point. So, I guess we will see what he has up his sleeve.

I flick the lock switch on the door and walk away katana in hand. He gets the point, that’s right you can let yourself in. I think.

“Thanks.” He says and shuts it behind him.

“Welcome.” I reply and hold up my blade. “So... am I gonna need this?”

“Ha! No ma’am, I’m just here for a chat. The other guys are knobs and I’m tired of the bickering.”

“Hmm...I can see that, one in particular has shoved too many swords up his ass.”

He laughs. “You got that right.”

I sheath my sword and tuck it back under my bed. He watches me curiously.

“You sleep with a sword under your bed?” He asks and pulls out my vanity chair. He sits down ever so casually stretching his legs out and crossing his arms.

“Yeah. You never know whos going to show up randomly on your balcony.” I smirk.

He bursts out laughing.  
“Yeah... That’s a lot of wit for a young girl. How old are you anyway?”

“As of today I am twenty!” I take a seat on my bed stretching my legs out just like him.

“Happy birthday! Isn’t that a good age, I guess that makes me slightly older than you.” He winks.

“... aren’t you like hundreds of years older than me?”

He gasps.  
“What? Hundreds?...do I look like I’m hundreds of years old?”

“No.” I reply, he’s a little sensitive about himself.

“How old do I look then?” He scowls and leans forward in his chair waiting for my response.

“Stand up let me see.” He does as I command. “Turn around.” I say twirling a finger, and goddamn, his backside might be even better than his front.

“So?” He crosses his arms again.

“Hmmm….I may have to see that again, I’m not sure.”

He smirks.  
“I see what you’re doing. Well I won’t be someone’s eye candy, I have feelings you know.” He says sarcastically.

“Don’t go turning all emo on me Cu, I would say you’re about twenty five. And just to get this out there, you would make a damn good pool boy. I have a spot open if you’re interested.”

“Oh yeah? If it means watching you in a bikini all day, I’d be up for that.” He sits back down resting one foot on top of his other thigh and hangs an arm over the backside of the chair.

“Hmm..” I begin to picture him cleaning my pool half naked with the water dripping off his spiked bluish hair , and not even realizing it I have started to chew my lip again. Of course notices.

“Thinking about it are you? If you choose me, I’ll be anything you want me to be.” He winks again. I roll my eyes, aaaand he ruins the moment.

“As much as I would love to see that body half naked walking around my house all day, I don’t want to think of you as a sex toy of any kind. A man with your fighting skills and strength deserves better than that. If I choose you, there would be nothing between us, only respect and honor. Because I am truly honored to be in your presence and I respect your very existence. You have done things in your life that I have never even thought of doing in mine, you have lived, loved, and lost, three things that I haven’t even come close to knowing yet. You are above me.” I say in the most serious tone I can.

He now he has this dumbfounded look on his face like I got him shook or something. He stares at me. What the hell is he thinking? I’m starting to get uncomfortable.

“No master has ever said anything like that to me before.” His tone has become serious now, no sarcasm or smirks to follow.

“Well it’s true. I hold the servant “race” so to speak, very high. I only hope that you would treat me with the same respect and dignity I deserve.”

“Well of course I would. I know you’re strong and any woman who sleeps with a sword under their bed most likely knows how to use it and deserves my respect. I didn’t mean to sound like I don’t respect you.”

“It’s fine, I just want to be on the same level.”

He looks around at my room.  
“So what do you want with the holy grail anyways, it looks like you have everything you need.”

“I don’t want the grail, I don’t even want to be in this war, but sometimes we don’t get to choose our fate.”

He looks at me questionably.  
“So what happens when you win?”

“You think I’m going to win? Isn’t that a little presumptive?”

“No not at all. I have been in these wars for a long time sweetheart, I know what a champion looks like.”

“Ooo, champion...I like the sound of that. But still, I don’t know what the next master is like. Although I have out ranked my classes I don’t know what the other classes can do. They could be far more powerful than me. Masters must excel in three different skill sets to even qualify for the war, and only the top are picked. I just hope I picked the right combination of skills that will compliment the servant I choose.”

He makes a humph noise and thinks on this for a minute.  
“Well, I still think you got this one.”

“Look, I know what you’re trying to do here, you don’t need to flatter me this much. I’m not going to choose you because I think you hot or charming, it’s going to be strictly based on who will keep my alive. I don’t want to die, not yet. There are still things I want to do with my life.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I'd like to climb the tallest mountain in the world, swim in the deepest seas, and know what it’s like to love someone. I know it sounds cheesy and dumb, but those are things I want and don’t really care what anyone else thinks.”

He pauses again this time with a warm smile.

“I’m not going to tell you to pick me or anything, I just wanna say, I’d like to apologize for calling you a young girl. You are nothing like what I thought you were, you are unique and someone I find myself admiring.” He gets to his feet. “But on that note, before I start flirting with you again, I should get going. Will you be at the party?”

“Yeah, I’m performing.”

“Performing?” He raises a brow.

“You’ll see.”

I walk over to the sliding glass door and open it for him waving him through. He stops at the door and smiles, then he takes my hand all knightley like and kisses it.

“It’s been a pleasure. I hope we can do this again soon.” He says so smoothly setting cheeks on fire. He smirks again giving me one last once over. Then disappears, leaving me a little disappointed he was gone.

I look out over the night sky thinking about the way his lips felt and the way he smelled. I didn’t realize servants wore cologne, I thought they just show up here with what they got. Either way, it was a scent I wanted more of. I shut the door and throw the lock on. Leaving the curtains open this time so no one can sneak up on me again. Time to get ready.


	3. My Second Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting lots of views on this, which I thought was just going to be a practice one shot. I still have no idea who she will choose. Let’s see where the story takes us ;)

“I picked out your dress for you Rachel. You’re going to wear this.” My mother says storming into my room. She glances at the door to my balcony and storms over to the curtains. She snaps them shut then turns to me.

“Put this on! You’re going to be late!” And she shoves the dress in my face.

“Which song did you choose?” She asks, taking a seat on the vanity chair.

“I don’t want to sing any of the songs he chose. They’re stupid! And cheesy!”

“Rachel for God's sake! You will choose one! Your father has a reputation to uphold and so do i!”

“Why can’t you just let me do what I want? You’re keep hovering over me all the time!” I snap back at her. She puts a hand on her chest and takes a deep breath as if I had insulted her in the worst way possible. I roll my eyes.

“You will be singing his second choice. I hope you’ve been practicing, or you will embarrass yourself up there.” She snickers.

“What great fucking support you are!” I shout.

“Rachel, your father is in no mood for your arguments. I suggest not angering him, you know what happens when you do. Now get dressed.” She says ever so calmly.

I know very well what my father does when he’s angry, especially when there is alcohol involved.

“Alright.” I reply giving up.

“Good! Let me help you with that.” We pull out the dress together, it was a deep red satin gown covered in flower petals to resemble a rose. She gasps.

“Oh my...Rachel this is a Danasha gown!” She says and squeals.

“So?”

“What do you mean so? It is worth over one million dollars Rachel!”

I shake my head at it, isn’t there something more practical he could spend his dirty money on?

“Put it on I want to see!” She is vibrating with excitement.

I step into it, ok yes this dress is the softest material I’ve ever felt, and yes it is the best fit ever, it also is light, even though it is ridiculously long. I can move in it perfectly and with a slit down the side I can wear whatever heels I want. I hate this dress, but I also love it. Damn it!

“I’ll send for Jewel to do your hair, maybe we should have it up?”

She’s getting way too into this.

“Fine...whatever.”

She claps and hurries to the door.

She’s literally killing me with her excitement. I sit at my vanity touching up my makeup changing some colors, and put on some red lip stain. By that time Jewel was knocking on the door.

“Rach! Let me see that dress!” She rushes in and stops.

“Oh my god!”

“Please stop Jewel, you’re making me nervous.”

“I’m sorry Rach you just look stunning! Let’s get your hair done, mom says updo?”

“Whatever you think.”

“Ok! I got this.”

It was another hour of work before she was done and yeah, she did a great job. Now I’m off to get ready for the stage.

I walk the hallway listening to the festivities. At least someone is having a good time. A few more hours and I can go to my quiet place on the beach and listen to the sound of the waves instead of all this.

A voice interrupts me.  
“Well, don’t we look “expensive” tonight.”

Low and behold, the king of assholes appears ahead of me leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. But instead of his golden armor he’s in a black tuxedo. He has a smug look and a stupid grin on his face, he chuckles at me.

“What do you want?” I carry on walking.

“I think you know” He says approaching me.

It was then that I realized I have no one around to help me keep this glorified… yet strangely handsome.. _why do I even think that?._.. asshole away from me. I look around frantically for something to defend myself with, but there is nothing around me. _Damn it, I should have brought my sword with me but it wouldn’t fit down this amazingly fitted dress._

He approaches with an obscured look that held hints of lust and insanity in it. His eyes were a wild crimson color similar to Cu Chullains, but they had a crazy twitch to them. He pins me up again the wall by my shoulders. Then draws a line down my face with the back of his index finger.

“Such a pretty little thing. If you were a little more submissive I would reconsider the thought of killing you.” He says in this smooth sexy voice.

I swear to god, dye his hair green and paint on a clown face he would be the spitting image of the joker, personality and all. But not the silly cartoon one, I mean the one who was locked up in a straight jacket.

“You’re fucking crazy! Get off me, I got shit to do!” I snarl back at him.

He puts a hand on my exposed thigh and begins to move it up under my dress.

“Am I wasting your time? Well you’re existence in this war is a waste of time. You can’t win against me you know. You might as well choose me as your king and I may let you live after it’s all done.” His hot breath on my face and his touch on my inner thigh is turning me on slightly..._yeah I got issues._

It was then he pulled out a blade, of course he would, he’s a weirdo, they always have some strange obsession with knives. He brings the tip up directly under my chin and presses it against my skin. I can feel the blade begin to cut a sliver into me. I cry out.

“Was that a cry of pleasure or pain mongrel? I can’t seem to tell the difference.” He says so calmly, then he kisses me, I thought he would be a little more aggressive about it but he was actually very gentle, but he’s still a nut job and I try my best to stop it. Although under the circumstances I don’t really have a way to stop any of this.

Suddenly he pulls away and I notice a long dagger slide its way in under his chin.

“You just can’t leave her alone can you?”

“And neither can you.” Gil says and backs away from me. I fall to my knees out of breath and shaking. I look up to my savior, _a god damn silver fox he is_, and I watch them standoff with each other. Shirou has his blade still held at his throat and Gil is smiling at him.

“Want me to get this over with now?” Shirou asks glancing at me.

I sigh. “No, he’s mine. He goes down the right way, by me and servants hands in the war on even terms. He still has to kneel before me first.”

I get to my feet and Shirou lets him go. Gil glares at me then laughs.  
“You just made a big mistake little girl.” He straightens his tux out and brushes off his shoulders. “I will see you soon princess.” He says and walks away.

I watch him walk down the hall until he rounds the corner. Then I lean back against the wall closing my eyes.

“Fuck.” I whisper as I try to catch my breath holding my chest.

“You ok little miss?” Shirou asks. My eyes flick back open and his deep brown eyes meet mine.

“Yeah.” And for some reason I lose control of my body. I grab him around the neck and pull myself into him. I hold him tightly feeling as my heart beats out of my chest.

He grunts as I pull him in and sighs then wraps those incredibly muscular arms around me.

“Thank you.” I whisper in his ear.

“Anytime.” He says and I think I over shot the recommended time length to hug someone without it getting awkward because Shirou was now trying to escape my grasp.

“Rachel, don’t you have a party to attend?” He asks running his hands from my shoulders down to my lower back. I reluctantly let him go and slip my hands down to his chest then drop them to my sides.

“Right...Sorry, I had a needy moment there... it won’t happen again.”

“I don’t mind.” He replies and smiles.

“What are you doing here anyways?”

“I noticed Gil wasn’t around so I went to find him, sure enough he was exactly where I thought he would be.”

He takes my arm in his, and materializes his clothes into a tuxedo and now I’m running my eyes all over him again. He must have noticed me gawking.

“How do I look?” He asks.

“As handsome as ever!” I reply.

He chuckles.  
“Yeah I think so too. But you on the other hand. I’m not even sure I should be seen with you.”

“What do you mean!?” I gasp.

He is laughing now as he watches my panic.

“That’s sooooo funny! You’re hilarious!” I bump him with my hip.

We approach the courtyard which is now converted into an outdoor party. There are more people here now than there was during the viewing. Before we step outside Shirou stops me.

“We shouldn’t walk in together, I don’t want to cause problems for you…”

“I guess you’re right. Thanks again.”

“I will see you out there.” And he disappears. Just like that.


	4. My Third Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I have never written about music before. It’s actually quite challenging and required a lot of research as I went along. This story is becoming a compilation of one shots so far.

Backstage everything was chaos. My father was overstepping, my mother was...drunk, causing distractions all over the place and everything was unorganized.

Lucy, our coordinator, rushes to my side as I walk in to the changing area behind the curtain.

“Rachel! Thank god you’re here. Your mother is driving me nuts!”

I look over to her chatting up a storm with one of the orchestra members. I sigh.  
“Yeah she does that. I’ll go get rid of her.”

“Can you get rid of your father too? He’s waaaay too involved in this.”

“I’ll try.”

I spend the next fifteen minutes coaxing my parents out the door. Using some charm, I was able to convince them to drink somewhere else without causing conflict.

“Are you ready?” Lucy asks.

“Yes.” I reply, although my nerves are a mess again. Lucy seems to notice me staring off into space thinking of what I have to do.

“Don’t worry! You’re going to rock this Rach.” She says patting my back.

Deep breaths.  
“Ok.”

“The orchestra is ready, you’ll walk out and the spotlight hits once you get to the mic. First it’s the piano then cello and violins. I can give you the cue you if you like?”

“It’s ok I know the song. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, blow them away Rach!” She hugs me then gets into position beside the stage.

More deep breaths. I approach the entrance, the announcer calls my name and I can see the pianist straightening up in his seat. The cellists pick up their bows and Lucy nods at me. I take slow steps as I walk out. There is, what looks like, hundreds of people watching me in the audience. They grow silent as I come to the mic the only sound is the tap of my heels on the stage floor.

I scan the audience, searching for the servants, half hoping they had gone home not bothering to watch this. But they are scattered throughout the courtyard and a few of them have gathered by the bar, Cu, Shirou, and Achilles. Each wearing a suit looking as gorgeous as ever, which makes me even more anxious and nervous. All eyes are on me, I take another deep breath, close my eyes and focus. I raise a hand to Lucy giving her the cue to start.

The plucking of keys and vibration of chords tremble through the stage below me, and I listen, their sounds echoing into the courtyard, calming my heart. I open my eyes and the lights hit me drowning out the audience creating a warm glow over the stage. I wait for my moment and the violins start in. Their sounds long and drawn out, I lift my hands to feel them and let their palter create the song to carry me into the first verse. I start slow with a breathy voice.

_“I'm trying to hold my breath_   
_ Let it stay this way_   
_ Can't let this moment end_   
_ You set off a dream in me_   
_ Getting louder now_   
_ Can you hear it echoing?_   
_ Take my hand_   
_ Will you share this with me?_   
_ 'Cause darling without you_

As the chorus approaches the entire orchestra picks up in harmonic radiance. This is my time to shine, to let go of my voice and show them what I can do.

_“All the shine of a thousand spotlights_   
_ All the stars we steal from the night sky_   
_ Will never be enough_   
_ Never be enough_   
_ Towers of gold are still too little_   
_ These hands could hold the world but it'll_   
_ Never be enough_   
_ Never be enough”_

As my voice floats through the chorus I push myself louder. Keeping my bravado perfectly smooth and in tune I sing from my heart. I hold up my hand drawing mana and spark a flame to it. Twisting it and splitting the flame into tiny cinders that flicker inside my palm.

_“For me_   
_ Never, never_   
_ Never, never_   
_ Never, for me_   
_ For me_   
_ Never enough_   
_ Never enough_   
_ Never enough_   
_ For me_   
_ For me_   
_ For me”_

I am at my full potential now, my voice rings through the audience sending waves of sonorous tranquility into the black velvet sky.

_“All the shine of a thousand spotlights_   
_ All the stars we steal from the night sky_   
_ Will never be enough_   
_ Never be enough_   
_ Towers of gold are still too little_   
_ These hands could hold the world but it'll_   
_ Never be enough_   
_ Never be enough”_

And I let the cinders go, in a rush of glittering sparks they pour over the audience stopping just above them. The crowd gasps and awes, some reach out to touch them as they light up the entire courtyard. I push myself through the final chorus, breaking through any barriers I have ever had with my voice.

_“For me_   
_ Never, never_   
_Never, never_   
_ Never, for me_   
_ For me_   
_ Never enough_   
_ Never, never_   
_ Never enough_   
_ Never, never_   
_ Never enough_   
_ For me_   
_ For me_   
_ For me”_

As the last words leave my lips I let the sparks die out and the orchestra pauses. Only the sound of the piano remains, as the echoing floats away. Everyone is silent. And I finish with a light breathy voice.

_“For me.”_

The entire room stands, including the servants. I swallow nervously looking around at everyone. For a few seconds, no one moves, they stand mouths gaped staring at me. I look over to Lucy who is just the same and I’m starting to think I’ve done something wrong. Embarrassment washes over me, but before I can rush off the stage and go hide, to my surprise applause erupts from the crowd. I take a step back as if it hit me in the chest. I look at my father who, for the first time in my life, looks proud of me.

I bow.

———————————-

With all of the anxiety and pressure over with I can finally relax and what better way to do that than to knock some arrows on the beach. Yes it’s midnight, yes I’m slightly drunk, having finished off another bottle of wine in my room while I changed. But this seems like a good idea right now and all I need is a nicely rolled up fatty to top it off. I stuff one down the front of my new dress along with a lighter. Although I am free of my responsibilities, I still have to look classy, but doesn’t mean I have to act it. So I put on a coral floor length maxi dress, I grab my bow and quiver of target arrows and proceed down the hallway. But this time I make a detour around the courtyard and into the gardens passing by one of our many pools. Thankfully I didn’t run into anyone this time.

I walk through the thick of perfectly groomed hedges and shrubs, it was like a maze, and if you hadn't been here before you would most likely get lost. As I round the corner, the garden opens up to a large stone patio with stairs leading down to the beach. Our beach is very sandy with shores that stretch out far into the ocean. I come here a lot in my spare time, it is my quiet place, my little escape.

I skip down the steps humming away. I stop at the last step and throw my shoes off then dig my feet into the sand.The sun was hot enough today to keep it warm throughout the night. I can hear the shallow crashes of waves in the distance. I skip down the beach over to the target I have placed about thirty yards out into the sea. I can see it clearly, I used a fluorescent reflective target and pinned it to a buoy that marked the shoreline cut off. Although half of it is missing from target practice last week.

I get into position, I throw my quiver over my shoulder and put on my glove. Drawing an arrow I bring up my bow and knock it. I have gotten so good with arrows I can shoot while riding horseback, and even land a bulls-eye midair. But I’ve been training for years, since I was old enough to pull the string back.

I pull back on the string and the bow bends with it. I focus on the target in front of me and let the arrow fly.

“Ting!” I hear, as the arrow has hit my mark perfectly. I smile to myself and draw another one.

“Nice shot.” A voice says from behind me..

“I would stay where you are, unless you want an arrow through your foot.” I reply.

Now I’m not usually this paranoid but under the circumstances I would consider someone approaching me from behind my enemy until they tell me otherwise.

“I swear to god Gil if that’s you, I'm going to…” and I turn around only to see golden eyes and a playful smile. He chuckles at me.

“Gil’s been bothering you? Need me to take care of that?”

I smile and bite my lip.  
“Nah, he’s as harmless as a lamb amongst the wolves.”

“You maybe right.”.

“So, what are you doing out here? Everyone is wondering where you are.” He tsks and crosses his arms.

I roll my eyes.  
“I’m preparing for the next performance I have.” I turn back around and pull on my bow shooting the arrow I just shot with a new one. It splits down the middle with a crack and thud. I shoot two more arrows into the target before taking a break.

“You’re pretty good you know. Looks like you don’t even need practice. I take it this is your way of hiding from the swarms of fans you have.”

I burst out laughing.  
“I don’t have fans Achilles, don’t be silly. They are only here for the money.”

“Well, after that performance, I can almost guarantee you’ve gained some fans. I know I am one.”

“Hmm, is that so?” I drop my bow, quiver and glove into the sand and turn to face him. He’s grinning at me almost deviously. I glare at him through a smile wondering what the hell he’s thinking now.

“That’s quite the devious smile you have. What are you thinking?” I ask.

He lowers his arms and sits down stretching out on the sand. I watch him, trying to figure him out, _what is Achilles all about?_

He pats the sand beside him.  
“Come sit beside me.” He says.

“Do you bite?” I ask playfully.

“Not at all...well, only if you ask me to.” He winks.

I skip over to him and sit down shoulder to shoulder. Well my shoulder to his armor. We watch the shore line wash in and out for a few seconds and I decide to spark up the joint nestled between breasts. I pull down on the front of my dress and reach two fingers down it.

“What you got there? Need any help?” He snickers.

I laugh.  
“No I got this one thanks.” I pull out the joint and lighter and he looks at it.

“Wanna get high?” I ask and he bursts out laughing.

“Ok, you’re nothing like what I thought you were.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Well on the outside you’re a good girl but on the inside, you definitely have a bad girl side, it’s kind of hot.”

“Bad girls have more fun.” I say and light it up. I take a small toke, don’t need to be choking and hacking in front of my new friend here. I blow out the smoke making o’s with my mouth then I hand him the joint.

“Ahh, no thanks. I haven’t touched that stuff in a long time.”

“Achilles, for God's sake. You can not deny me this moment of getting high with one of my favorite heroes!”

He chuckles.  
“Alright, alright, just a couple tokes but that’s it, I still got shit to do later.”

“And what do you have to do later?”

“I still have some persuading to do. Come to the light side Rachel!”

“Oh my god, was that a reverse Star Wars quote?”

He laughs. “Maybe.”

I watch him take a few tokes in, he keeps it cool without coughing too much and hands it back to me. Since I’m already drunk and feeling the weed now I decide to put it out before my bad girl side takes over and I do something stupid.

“So, I’m your favorite?” He asks slyly.

“Aha! “One” of my favorites.” I correct him.

“I am the strongest out of all the servants you know. We would be the perfect couple.” And he sweeps a muscular arm around my waist pulling me closer. Which I didn’t mind too much, feeling someone’s touch right now was kind of nice. So I let it go for now, but this is as far as it will go.

We look out over the ocean, the moon and stars flickering off the waves with bioluminescence spilling over them. I couldn’t help but think how perfect this night turned out to be and I get to share it with some truly spectacular people, aside from Gil.

As I think I can see him glancing at me repeatedly out of the corner of my eye.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“Nothing, Just admiring your beauty that’s all.”

And here we go, these male servants really have a knack for hitting on women. I’m not sure if I should be flattered or annoyed. At the moment I’m feeling slightly annoyed by it.

“Thanks” I reply and get to my feet.

“Where you going?” He asks, slightly disappointed.

I turn towards him walking backwards, taking out the pins in my hair, I ruffle it out and let it blow in the breeze. He smiles at me.  
“I’m going to get my arrows.” And I turn back around keeping my pace.

“And how do you plan on doing that? Are we skinning dipping?” He stands brushing the sand off his pants.

“Ha! Not tonight.”  
I stop before the water and let it touch my toes.

So my mage class instructor took me aside six years ago. She told me that I am different, not like the others, that she senses a great power in me. After that conversation we began private lessons here at my house where she taught me everything she knows and more. Through a book of shadows she had, I was taught how to control elements without using a catalyst. All I need is the communication between the earth and me.

Achilles strolls up beside me.  
“You’re thinking about it aren’t you?”

I glance at him.  
“Maybe…” I smirk. “Or maybe not.”

Then I whisper my incantation creating a bond with the earth.

“Gods Of earth, share with me your power to control...water.”

My words echo over the ocean. Achilles looks around and listens. I raise my hands in prayer and repeat the words one last time.

“Gods Of earth, share with me your power to control...water.”

As the last words leave my lips the ocean before us begins to part. I slowly pull my hands apart focusing on keeping my bond with the earth. Large waves tumble away on either side creating a pathway for me all the way to the Buoy where my arrows sit.

With the connection complete I lower my hands and skip down the pathway.

“Rachel! How did you…” Achilles asks. I turn back to him, he watches me shaking his head and smiling.

I blow him a kiss and give him my best smile. Then I turn around spinning and dancing down the pathway humming all the way.

———————————-


	5. A Re-visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I am in love with Cu Chullain if you can’t tell. He’s my fav. Sometimes I feel I write too much about him buuut I can’t help myself. Anywho I really enjoyed this subtle moment between my characters hope you enjoy.

I’m lying in bed now, enjoying my plush pillows and silky sheets. I pull them up over my shoulders and snuggle in. I had just finished a well deserved hot shower after getting into a water fight on the beach with Achilles, which he ended up nearly dunking me into the ocean whether I liked it or not. He was a wild man that was for sure, nothing like the others. His personality is exactly like Jason Momoa, and his looks are similar to a Brad Pitt/Keanu Reeves mix. But as fun as he is the thought of taming him to be your servant, well that’s a whole different story. I could tell almost immediately that in the heat of a battle he would listen to no one but himself and from the way he spoke about it all, retreat is not in his vocabulary. Those behaviors can cause detrimental effects on a master fighting in this war. I like him but I’m still not sure about him , I guess we will see how it goes.

I begin to drift off thinking about golden, brown, and red eyes, when all of a sudden.

“Tap,Tap,tap.”

I stare up at the ceiling cursing the entire Holy Grail War.

Again.  
“Tap,Tap,Tap.”

I whip the sheets off and storm towards the sliding door. You can probably guess who it is. Big blue, that’s right, my hound dog is here wagging his drunk tail wanting to come inside.

He’s scratching the back of his head, wincing at the same time, watching me approach the door. It’s obvious he knows he shouldn’t be here right now. But I am curious to see what the hell he wants, so I flick the lock switch and open the door.

“Hi.” I say in a flat tone.

He makes a nervous groan noise then smiles. I sigh, _why does he have to be so good looking?_ I grab his arm and pull him inside, no sense in standing there scratching your head Cu. He stumbles through the door, and I pull him over to my vanity chair then sit him down.

“Hi Rachel.” He says with a toothy grin and big puppy eyes.

I glare at him.

“I...uh...sorry for being here so late…” he scratches his head again.

I stand arms crossed waiting for my explanation.

“What’s up Cu?”

“I just wanted to check on you, I heard about your run in with Gil and I just wanted to make sure you made it to your room safely.” Another toothy grin.

I can’t tell if he’s being sincere or if he’s just trying to earn points with me or maybe his master has forced him here. I don’t know.

“Is that true? Or does a command seal have something to do with this?”

“Command seal? I would never need the use of a command seal to come see you.”

Ugh he’s killing me, why does he have to be so sweet right now. I close my eyes and mentally put an iron box around my heart and lock it.

“Cu...it’s late...thank you for checking up on me. I appreciate it, you’re the only one who has, other than Shirou. But if this is all just an act then I don’t need the check up.”

He lowers his eyes to the floor and runs a hand through his hair. He is acting strange, I can tell he is out of character like he has lost all of the confidence he had earlier.

“It’s not an act Rachel, I really do care if you’re safe or not and not just because I want you…” he pauses. “As my master.”

“Hmm…” I lift his chin and look into his eyes searching them for truth and he stares directly into mine not moving them an inch. He is telling the truth.

I smile and ruffle his hair.  
“Alright you may stay.” I say and his invisible tail starts wagging.

“How was the rest of your night? You disappeared after that amazing performance.”

“It was good, I shot some arrows on the beach and smoked some weed with Achilles.” I reply and shut the sliding glass door then lock it. He looks at the door then back at me questionably.

“So that’s who you were with..” he replies in a half whisper of disappointment.

“Don’t sound so disappointed. Nothing happened between us, and I am not sure if I want to choose him as a servant. He’s kind of wild and probably not the most loyal.”

I hop up onto my bed and get tucked in but not before taking my tank top off leaving me in just my full bottoms and thin sports bra.

“Yeah he is all of those things...are you going to sleep now?”  
.

“I would like to.”

“Umm...you locked the door. Force of habit? Or…?”

I lie there for a minute trying to decide what I want to do. I’d love to just snuggle with him, he’s so sweet and innocent right now and those big burly arms would be so nice draped around me, _but will this cause problems for us in future decisions? Could it place a rift between us?...fuck it!... I’m too half cut to care at this point._

“If you lay beside me, will you promise not to get too handsy?”

I can hear a heavy breath escape him, like I’ve just blown his mind.  
“Am I becoming your sex toy now? I thought you didn’t think of me like that… not like I’m complaining. I would love to show you a thing or two.”

_Aaaand he ruins it._

“That’s not what I want at all, I just want some cuddles and pets.” I reply in my cutest voice. “But you’re right, it's probably not a good idea.”

By the time I had finished my sentence he was already under the covers tucked in beside me. He had de-materialized his tuxedo and shoes leaving only his boxers on. It must be the alcohol, this is normally not like me, but I just don’t give a damn right now.

I scoot over to him, with my back facing his front and find his hand then place it on my back.

“Pets please.” I demand. He laughs and begins to draw lines down my back with the tips of his fingers.

“Mmmm.” I hum at him.

“It would be much easier if you took this off.” He pokes at my sports bra.

“Ha! That would really be putting yourself to the test now wouldn’t it.” I snicker.

“Hmm...you’re right.” He replies.

I scoot in a bit closer pushing my backside into him. He whines at me.

“That’s not nice.” He whispers and wraps a strong arm around my stomach and pulls me into him further.

The way he felt was, well...solid, like his muscles were so chiseled they didn’t soften when you pressed against them. But his skin was smooth and he was perfectly warm, not too hot and not too cold. I could smell his cologne, a musky, yet sweet, sandlewood scent with a slight hint of alcohol, but it wasn’t too bad. He nuzzles into my hair still damp from my shower, but he didn’t seem to care. And he starts to draw circles around my belly button, occasionally drifting too far north or too far south which I quickly corrected and he would whisper a sorry or you’re so hot. But I wasn’t giving into those words, _this is just meaningless cuddling…right?_

It wasn’t long before I felt myself drift into sleep mode. With Cu there beside me I have never felt so safe and warm in my bed.

———————————

I can hear the rustling of blankets beside me, but my hangover is telling me not to wake up to see who it is moving around. Fingertips run down the side of me starting from my shoulders and down to my hip...I drift off again in a heavy sleep.

A whisper. “I have to go.” It says.

“No, please don’t go.” I turn to face the whisper eyes still closed.

“I have to.” He replies. I reach out and grab onto whatever I can, still in a dreamy haze, I grab his shirt and pull him back down. He grunts, and hovers over me, I can feel his breath on my lips. Then he presses his lips against mine so gently and runs a hand down my side. his touch was turning me on so badly, sending shivers through my skin. He takes his hand and sweeps it over my cheek then pulls away looking into my now open eyes and reality kicks in as my dream like state slips away.

“Shit…” I whisper and that lusty gaze he has turns into hurt.

“You didn’t mean to do that did you?” He asks.

“I-It’s not that, I just didn’t want to complicate things. I’m sorry...maybe I already have.”

He sits up smiling but I can tell it’s fake.

“It’s fine, this must be really hard for you. I know it is for me. I’ll see you around Rachel.” He turns away, materializing his armor, and walks over to the sliding door, he flicks the lock and opens it, then disappears. And once again I’m left here wishing he would have stayed longer. Damn.

I lie there feeling ashamed and hurt. But it was all my fault, I let the alcohol and weed get the better of my logic and now I’ve got a three star rated servant following me around like a puppy. The worst part of it is that I like it. I want him to follow me, to be around me, but I’m not sure if he’s the one I can choose. He may not be strong enough. Double damn.

_Why does this have to be so hard?_

I’m wide awake now feeling bad about myself, so I might as well get up and get moving. I need a good hangover shake in me then a workout to fix this. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and sit up. I’m never drinking wine again. My head hurts and I got that shaky feeling.

I make it over to my dresser and put on some workout clothes, Black lulu shorts, and a hot pink lulu sports bra then I throw my hair up in a high pony. I think I will go blading around the property today, and from the sunlight streaming into the half open curtain Cu left, I can tell it’s a beautiful day. I’ll be spending the rest of it inside the simulator, watching the servants impress me, so I should take the sunshine when I can get it.

I was pretty excited about today, I get to see them for what they are. Weapons, powerful beings that can use magic sources a normal mage can’t even comprehend. I hope Cu can show me something spectacular, I’m sort of banking on him. I sigh.

I make it to the kitchen and start whipping up a recovery shake. Creamsicle flavor and down it.

“ Rachel dear! How was your night? You disappeared, everyone was wondering where you were. Your father wanted me to find you but after your spectacular performance we decided you deserved some time to yourself on your birthday. I hope you had fun.” She winks at me then heads over to the fridge for creamer.

“Yeah I had a great night.” I reply, remembering most of it, some parts I don’t remember. Like after me and Achilles finished off that last bottle of wine he pulled out of nowhere. Ok… it was mostly me who drank the damn thing. I’m pretty sure nothing happened between us, I don’t even think I let him walk me to my room. I vaguely remember my shower and changing. Then Cu showed up, I remember most of that. The conversation was a little hazy though, and this morning...shame again.

“Fuck my life.” I whisper.

Deep in thought I hadn’t realized my mother was watching me.

“So...how was he?” She asks.

My eyes snap over to her. How the hell does she know?

“How was who?” I ask as my face flushes a deep red.

She snickers.  
“Achilles! I heard a rumor you two were on the beach together.” She leans against the counter sipping her coffee smiling to herself for knowing even the slightest bit of gossip.

“Yeah well, it’s not what you think. Nothing happened we were just hanging out.” I turn away from her not wanting to have this conversation anymore. Thank god she didn’t know about Cu.

“Oh ya? And what about Cu Chullain? I saw him headed to your room at two in the morning.”

I wince at that,_ damn it Cu!_

“Was he there all night?” She asks prodding at me.

“That’s...none of your business.” I reply.

“Oh come on Rach, we used to talk about this stuff all the time. Now you just shut me out.”

“Yes we “used” to, but you would always go opening your mouth to everyone so I stopped talking with you.”

She sighs. “Gossip is gossip sweetie, someone’s gotta do it.” And she laughs at me.

Such a bitch. I think. And rather than arguing I leave the room to go get my blades on.


	6. Cowboy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahh I’m so excited! I have come up with a full story now. It will be longer than I thought. Super excited, just need to work our a minor details with some in-depth research. ;)

It is about nine in the morning, and the sun was shining and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. There is a sweet summer breeze in the air and I had some good chillstep music pumping in my headphones, I was feeling much better. Letting my mind take me out of reality for a bit and into the fresh beats.

I head out down the driveway, my father had built a track around our house to show off new vehicles or machines he had designed for corporations. I always blade around it, it’s a good ten kilometers around the entire place which makes for a great workout. I glide around the fountain in the middle of the driveway and suddenly a black limo rounds the corner ahead of me. I push my legs to the side and spin out of the way barely missing it and I stop, glaring at the asshole who almost hit me.

_Who the fuck is here at nine am? And in a limo!_ I think.

I roll up to the car now parked and tap on the drivers side window. The chauffeur opens the window and looks at me mouth dropped. I bend over and take my headphones off, then I lean my elbows on the window.

“Hi, what the hell are you doing driving so fast up my driveway?”

“We uhh...we have a meeting miss. I apologize for almost hitting you.”

“Could you imagine what my father would do to you if you did?” I laugh and his face turns a ghostly white.

“Father?!...uhhmm.., I’m so sorry miss.” He says in a panic.

I grab the front of his stupid hat and pull it down playfully.  
“Don’t worry about it, it’s all good man!” I pat his shoulder.

It was then the back doors open and guess who steps out? That silver fox of a man in his red cloak...take me now. I bite my lip as I watch him shut the door.

“Hey.” He says as his eyes look me up and down.

“Hi.” I reply.

“Shirou! We have a meeting, you can play with your toys later.” Says a man wearing a big stupid cowboy hat, skinny jeans, a pink collared shirt and the biggest belt buckle I’ve ever seen. I watch him walk up the stairs towards my house and notice his boots and spurs. He is as redneck as you can get.

“Hey cowboy!” I shout at him. He turns around.

“I’m no ones toy!”

He laughs at me.  
“You are exactly that. Just some manufactured doll waiting for its first prize in the competition.”

I look at Shirou who is furious now. He looks back at me and shakes his head. Was that for me?

“Fuck this shit!” I snap and turn away, but Shirou grabs my arm before I can move any further.

“Hey, don’t listen to my master he’s an asshole, but ...there’s something I need to talk to you about.” He says quietly.

I search his eyes, which now have turned from raging embers to a dimly lit concern.

“After my workout, I’m going for a swim in my pool, you can meet me there.”

He blinks at me. “You have a pool?”

I smile and wink at him. “ I have three! Come find me.” I say then proceed blading backwards down the driveway away from them. I put my headphones on. Now that I’m pissed off, chillstep just isn’t cutting it. So I throw on some screamo to match my rage inside and I lose myself in the lyrics

——————————-

After working up a good sweat I headed back to my room to get my bikini on and managed to make it to the pool without any interruptions, thank god.

The pool was a simple rectangular design which I liked the best for swimming lengths in. After about an hour, I decide it’s time to get out and get ready for the next competition.

I was starting to feel a little disappointed that Shirou didn’t show up to meet me. I swim over to the pool stairs and step out squeezing the water out of my hair to the tips, I ruffle it out as I walk up onto the deck.

“Well... I have a whole new love for the color pink.” A smooth voice says in front of me.

I look ahead of me to see Shirou sitting on a lounger laid back with his arms tucked behind his head smiling slyly.

“Oh really? Well, now I know what to get you for Christmas.” I reply.

He chuckles. I walk towards him fixating on his rippling abs and chest. Then I notice he’s sitting on my towel.

“Can you hand me that towel?” I ask.

He leans forward putting both legs on either side of the lounger and grabs the towel out from underneath him. He holds it out to me and I take it then dry myself off. He watches me silently.

“So...what do you want to talk to me about?” I ask, as I sit down in front of him on the lounger, dropping the towel to the deck floor. He looks at me once more starting from the bottom of my bikini then up to where he’s supposed to be looking.

“My eyes are up here if you’re looking for them.” I smirk.

He finally meets them and smiles.  
“Oh yeah.” He says so simply.

He takes a deep breath in.  
“I want to ask you some questions if that’s ok?”

“Of course.”

“When’s the last time you left your house?”

“That’s an odd question. Umm...just the other day.” I reply.

“Ok, but what day?”

It must have been, just a couple of days ago, I went to ...where did I go...I…Shirou stares at me waiting.

“It was Monday...I think..”

“Ok, where did you go?”

“Well I went...to…” and my words fall away as my memory of a simple outing has somehow vanished. I stare down at my hands trying to remember. “Why are you asking me this?”

“Well, you’re in your twenties and I haven’t seen you talk to anyone outside of this house. You don’t carry a cell phone, or laptop, in fact I haven’t seen a single phone in your house. You also had no friends your age at the performance and didn’t seem to want to visit with anyone there. So why is it that you shut yourself out from the world?” He tucks my hair behind me ear and lifts my chin to look at him.

I hadn’t noticed that before. He’s right I don’t have a cell phone, I never have...or maybe I have? I’m not sure and I didn’t even think that someone I knew would be at the performance. It was all my fathers friends anyways.

“There’s something wrong here Rachel. I’ve noticed some things out of place and your father has something to do with it.”

I search his eyes for deceit, but there isn’t any. Only concern.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I haven’t noticed anything odd.” I reply.

“Yet you can't remember what you did last Monday?... What does your father do for a living?” He asks.

“He’s an engineer, a contractor for big companies.”

He shakes his head.  
“ Are you sure about that? There’s more to him than you think. But I just don’t know what it is yet. I feel a sense of danger when I’m here...I worry about you.” He takes my hands in his.

I don’t understand where this is all coming from and why I can’t even remember what I did last week. I have memories of things I have done as a kid, but nothing recent. Nothing since the first servant was summoned two weeks ago. But that doesn’t mean anything, maybe I’m just tired from training so hard and preparing for this war.

“Everything is fine you don’t need to worry.” I reassure him, although I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince. Him? Or ...myself?.

“Just keep an eye on him. My master says you’re his little experiment he keeps behind closed doors. I’m just not sure what for.”

Experiment? That’s messed up. My father wouldn’t do that...or would he? He can be a little crazy sometimes and his anger is...

“You’re freaking me out Shirou.”

“I’m sorry, I just wanted you to be aware. Things aren’t what they seem here. I will protect you as much as I can. “ He leans in and kisses my forehead.

“Thank you.” I whisper. Unsure of my feelings right now. This conversation has me more paranoid than being a master in this damn war. I have no reason to doubt his words, for the fact that what he is saying doesn’t benefit him in this war at all.

“Hey Rachel...look at me.”

I look straight into his eyes.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”

I nod. “Ok. But…” we are suddenly interrupted by the clink of spurs on boots.

“Shirou! Playtime is over. Let’s go!” Cowboy says as he approaches us. Shirou glares at him then looks back at me.

“Time for me to go. I’ll see you later at the competition. Remember what I told you.” His expression is dead serious as he walks away.

“Fuck.” I whisper holding back tears.

————————————-


	7. Making her choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have work the last couple days on this chapter, doing research on the date series. I had to read back a lot on the whole series as it is hard to connect all of them together. There is so much to this, it can be hard to gather the correct information and make a story that would line up with it. But so far so good ;) enjoy! Oh! This chapter is explicit so if you’re not into that I would pass over that part. ❤️❤️

I walk, in my robe, down the hallway to my room. My anxiety and paranoia is working overdrive now and I feel as if every room in my house is watching me. On the way there, off to my left, is the living room, I can hear my father conversing with another man. Shirou has sparked my curiosity so I decide to lean up against the wall and listen. I peak around the corner to see who it is he is talking to.

He has hair as white as snow, it was long and braided to one side. He is wearing a white suit with a purple tie and grey vest. Although he held a warm smile and approachable appearance, there was something about him. Something “off”, like his eyes seemed dull and emotionless. They flick over to my direction and I tuck back behind the wall hoping he hadn’t seen me. There was a short pause between them, but thankfully they carried on their conversation.

“Is everything in place then?” The man in white asks.

“Yes, assassin will be ready. This is costing me Maris.” My father growls.

“Don’t worry Lev, once I win the grail with caster you will be reimbursed in full and I can carry on with the plans for Chaldea.”

Lev? That’s not my father's name. And what is Chaldea? .I ask myself.

“Yes your “idea” of a place, designed to protect humanity's existence. Even though I think it is a waste of time and a fallacy, I will support you as long as you fulfill my needs. What about lancer?.”

“Hmm...he’s been a challenge, he has quite the obsession with your daughter, I don’t blame him, she is stunning...Speaking of her, I do wonder if she would be a good candidate for the Celestial Body Department of studies. She is strong enough.”

There is a pause between them and my heart beats painfully. I clutch my chest, Shirou was right.

“We will see how the next twenty four hours goes.” My father replies. “If she does well in the simulator…” he trails off.

“I will hold you in a high ranking position at Chaldea if you do. Just think about it. She would be perfect, especially with her bloodline... But it’s time for me to go, I have a servant to purchase prior to the next competition.”

I can hear them stand and shake hands. Time to go. I speed walk down the hallway to my room and shut the door quietly, then I breakdown. I fall to my knees and begin to shake uncontrollably. He was right, my father is...he is...I’m… I can barely breathe now as tears stream down my face.

“Tap,tap,tap.” I hear.

I look up to my sliding glass doors to see just the man I need right now. I run over to the sliding door and let him in.

“What’s wrong?” He asks and I clutch his shirt burying my face into his chest.

“Cu, I... I’m not safe here anymore, my father…I…” I can barely get the words out.

He picks me up princess carry and places me on my bed then sits down beside me.

“Rachel, what’s going on?” He asks and I stare down at my hands through water filled eyes.

I swallow hard.  
“My father is planning something, he is not who I thought he was. I don’t think I was meant to fight in this war.”

Cu stares at me with utter confusion trying to understand what the hell im saying. But I can barely explain it to myself.

“I don’t understand.” He says. I wince because I know that any explanation I have won’t make sense.

“All I know is that something is wrong. Since the first servant was summoned I can’t remember anything. The last two weeks are blank, I don’t even remember what I did two days ago.” Despair takes over me as I think about it and I begin to sob.

“Hey...hey...shhh.” He says, he kisses my head and runs his hand down my back.

His touch was so comforting, I needed him right now, all of him. I turn to him and push him back slightly then straddle his lap, my towel falling off in the midst of it, and I hold him close to me. He sighs and wraps his arms around me so tightly. I cry into his shoulder lacing my fingers into his ponytail. We hold each other for a long time, until I feel my heart beat starting to settle, and he lets go of me slowly. His hands trail from my shoulders down my hair to my lower waist.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.” He whispers.

“Please don’t leave anymore, stay with me. I need you. When you left this morning, my heart hurt. But I know it was my fault..I’m sorry. I want you to be my servant Cu, I want you.” I clutch his shirt again.

“I’ve been aching for you to say that.” He lifts my chin and sweep a thumb across my lips. “The first time I saw you in that dress, your beautiful eyes and full lips…” He kisses me then pulls away. “I have never wanted anything so damn badly in my life.”

And that was it, I unlocked my heart and gave into him in that moment. He had crashed through my barriers and made the only thing that mattered in my life right now...him. I push him back onto the bed and sit up untying the back of my bikini straps, starting with the back. He stares up at me breathing heavy, and as I take off the top he shudders underneath.

“...my god…” he whispers and he takes full advantage of what’s in front of him. He sits up cupping my breasts in both hands, squeezing them gently as he kisses me. I push myself further into his lap and he dematerializes everything in an instant. I can feel him hardening underneath me, as he fondles my breasts. We both have wanted this so badly, from the very beginning, we were only holding back so as not to cause any hurt. But it didn’t matter anymore, the war doesn’t matter to me anymore.

He drags his kisses down my neck to my shoulder nipping me softly along the way making me shiver. Then, taking my entire waist in his hands, he guides me down onto my back positioning himself between my thighs. I gaze at him, his thick ponytail has fallen over his broad shoulders and down his chest. His abs flex as he grows firmer. He was huge, a size that would make any woman nervous to take. His hands run down the front of my body until he reaches my bikini bottoms. He unties the straps on the sides of my hips and slips them off.

“You are incredible Rachel.” He says, making me smile inside and out.

He hovers over top of me, lips close to mine.  
“If you need me to stop…” I place a finger on his lips.

“Don’t stop.” I whisper and he smiles and begins. First kissing my most pleasurable area, I have never felt anything like it before. The small flicks of his tongue, sent me into sheet clenching ecstasy. Within minutes I could feel myself soaking my inner thighs. I would cover my mouth as tiny whimpers and moans would pour from it uncontrollably. He had me panting, laying on top of wet sheets by the time he had finished with me.

He sits up taking in my sprawled out, dazed, and lust filled state as he smiles to himself, pleased with his work. He pulls me into his crotch and leans over me holding himself up with his arms. He wets the tip in my juices and forces himself inside slowly. I clench his arms wincing at first, and thankfully, he stops once he has forced his entirety in. He looks into my eyes for permission to proceed. I nod,and with one long thrust he takes what ever I had left “untouched” with him.

As the pain from his size subsides with each thrust, and pleasure kicks in again he pulls out and flips me over, pushing my shoulders down thrusting back into me harder this time. He was definitely dominating in bed, and he loved it. He loved the control he had over me, over my orgasms, it made him wild.

“Cum for me mo ghrá” He says.

I don’t even know what that means, nor do I care right now. It was hot as hell. He would stop just before I would cum and switch back to licking me until I collapse and it wasn’t long until I was begging for him to finish. I couldn’t take anymore.

I push him back and he sits up a little confused.

“It’s your turn.” I say. I guide him into a sitting position and straddle him. But he stops me holding onto my hips.

“If you want me to cum, this isn’t the position to do it in. I’ve never been able to cum like this.” He explains.

A devious smile tugs at my cheeks. Challenge accepted. I kiss him and guide him back inside of me. He hits a whole new pleasure spot for me in this position, and I begin to ride him getting my leverage from the head board behind him. He was right, although he enjoyed this, I was enjoying it more and I wouldn’t be able to finish him off like this. Unless…an idea comes to mind.

I place my hands on his chest as I ride him and begin to draw mana. With each stroke up and down I draw more power until I’ve reached my limit and with tiny bursts of energy, I force them into his body. Each burst was like a shock wave of tingling sensation vibrating through him, similar to an electrical shock. I could feel him shudder and hear him gasp and moan. He stops me completely. Staring at me wide eyed and now I think I’ve hurt him.

“Did that hurt?” I gasp.

He shakes his head and whispers. “Don’t stop.”

Mentally smiling.

I start again this time pouring more energy into him with each movement. He’s panting and moaning like crazy, gripping my hips now. I notice his thighs start to shake, so I pick up the pace. I tug at his hair whispering to him.

“Please cum.”

And I give him whatever was left of my mana, he gasps and shudders underneath me, then a long drawn out moan escapes him. I slow my pace as he fills me, rotating my hips around him until he can’t handle his own sensitivity. He stops me and presses his forehead against mine panting. He sits for a minute catching his breath before he speaks.

“I have..pant...never felt anything...pant... like that before.” He says. “No woman has ever dominated me like that.” He looks into my eyes, taking my cheeks in both hands. He shakes his head in disbelief then kisses me softly.

I pull off him and lie down and he lays beside me facing me. He gazes at me playing with my hair, brushing it with his fingertips. I notice his eyes close for a minute and his brows furrow.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

He opens his eyes again.  
“My master is calling me. It’s time for the next part of this whole fucked up game.”

Panic sets in.  
“Cu please don’t go…” I cry.

“I have to. I already told him no, and he threatened to use a command seal.”

I sigh. “Fuck.”

“Look the competition starts in two hours. Get ready and arm yourself, I will meet you there. Just pretend like nothing is wrong and you will be fine. We have to carry on with this until I can figure out what the hell is going on.”

“Ok.” I reply, although I have my doubts that things won’t work out in my favor.

Cu materializes his armor and blue suit once again. He gets out of the bed and makes his way to the sliding glass door. He stops at the door and looks at me once more, this time with sadness in his eyes.

“Be careful, if anything were to happen to you…I would be lost.” Then he proceeds out the door and vanishes.

I lie there reminiscing of the love we made. He was everything I had ever dreamed of and more.

————————————


	8. The Arena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m hoping I didn’t rush into this, but I feel pretty good about this chapter. Enjoy!

The simulator; also known as the CTS-4D (combative, training, simulator, fourth dimension); an arena my father has developed over the years for the main purpose of training Mage’s to fight in combative scenarios without causing destruction in the real world. Its design is based on 4D virtual reality marble technology, a mouthful I know, where not only do you see the reality, you can hear, taste, smell, and feel everything in it. This technology is extremely advanced for this era, but with the help of mage craft my father was able to produce it much more quickly than the average human.

Since the virtual reality is almost as real as the outside world, combat must be controlled. If the simulator is put to its highest level and a mage is not able to defend themselves, there is a possibility of death. It is similar to a dream, the saying is “if you die in your dreams, you die in real life”. The CTS has the same effect, so knowing your skill level and “gradually” increasing it is a must, and requires both a high security level and intensive monitoring.

I have fought here for years, my skill level is as high as the simulator can go unless I am placed in the servant level. The servant level; this is a new development my father had come up with over the last year. Using my training and skill level as his guide he was able to set the difficulty level based on how well I did. The servant levels were made through computer analysis and statistics. Not one mage has ever taken on the servant ranked reality marbles. It is just too dangerous.

This will be the first time a servant has used the CTS, and knowing their power and abilities my father would have set up some unbreakable barriers around the audience stands to contain any forces that could cause destruction. But having this much reinforcement and protection could cause problems, if something goes wrong with the reality marble there is no way to help the subject until the barriers are removed. The barriers can only be removed if the instance has been completed or the system is overridden, then everything is disabled and your mind is placed back into reality. But this takes time and by then who knows what would have happened to the subject. It is a very complex system with a high risk of injury or death, but that is what the war is all about.

The arena is massive and it has to be, or else it would crumble under a heroic spirits power. It was very similar to a football stadium, in fact, the base plans for the structure were built from just that. There are stands that can seat thousands, it was my father's dream to host these competitions and the servant choosing on a global level. Which he has finally succeeded in, and this will be the first one. Let’s hope all goes well and there are no glitches in the system.

I have made my way to the changing rooms to get ready for my “display of power” as my father keeps calling it.

“Now Rachel, I want you to remember your teachings and push yourself. I know you can do more than what we have seen already. Just try to connect to your magic circuits, I won’t accept failure.” He says sharply.

“Yes father.” I reply in monotone. My emotions towards him are nothing but anguish. I’m trying my best to hold it inside me, but the sword in my hand is thinking darker thoughts. I clench it as my assistant buckles up my thigh high boots.

My father stares down at me.  
“Rachel!” He snaps suddenly gritting his teeth and I jump at the anger in his tone. I look up at him.

“Don’t...disappoint me.” He says with a half snarl that makes me want to stab him even more than I did before.

“I won’t... father.” I say bearing my own teeth and watch him walk away towards the arena.

“Stand Rachel.” My assistant says.

She hands me my gloves and I put them on, then she buckles them up and turns on the sensors in the palms. Next is my body sensors then armor overtop to protect them. Losing a sense line in combat can be very dangerous, so it is critical for the lines to be secured and covered. My father had designed my armor differently than the others, he always dresses me “ proper” for public outings, because apparently I don’t know how to do that myself. He says he has an image for me and that is the way he likes it. So for this, my armor is black, smooth, with lined silver designs on the edges. I wear a long sleeve one piece bodysuit that exposes my upper thighs. The collar comes all the way to the top of my neck with armor around it. I have small armored pauldrons, armored gloves and wristbands. Each piece has sensors underneath to make the reality I am in seem more realistic.

“All finished.” She says. She looks at me concerned. “Be careful out there Rachel.”

It was almost as if she knew something was wrong. We pause looking at each other, speaking through our eyes. I nod.  
“I will.” I reply.

Then she walks away. I listen to the sound of her boots echoing down the hallway until I can’t hear them anymore. I let out a deep breath and sit down on the bench with my head in my hands.

“Hey beautiful.” A voice says from behind me. I glance over to it sweeping my hair out of my face.

“Hey Achilles.”

“You look as if defeat has struck you down already and you haven’t even started.” He says and sits down beside me.

I give him a short haha.

“Well, I’m just not sure about this whole choosing anymore. Something is “off”.”

He raises a brow.

“What do you mean?”

There is no sense in explaining things to him, he can’t help me at this point, once I’ve entered the arena I’m on my own.

“I wish I had more time, but I don’t. There’s so many things I need to figure out before this all ends and I am forced to choose my servant. Although I’m pretty sure I know who it will be.”

“You’ve made your choice?” He sits up straight.

“Yeah.” I shy away from him.

“I take it, it’s not me.” He sounds disappointed, of course he is.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter anyways, my feeling is that this competition is nothing more than a test for me. More experimenting. I won’t be choosing anyone in the end.” I stand, letting what I have just said set in and I realize something, that my entire life has been an experiment. He has been training me for this, preparing me to face something, to be something...but what outcome does he want to see? What will his final results be? I guess we will find out in the arena. I just hope it’s not anything like what happened last time...

**Flashback: _Simulator Test #1006_**

It was three months ago, I had just been placed in the last reality marble, mage class. The most difficult, the level I’ve had so much trouble with because of the quantity of enemies.

It started out in the underworld reality marble. A decaying waste land full of volcanic rock and molten lava, go figure. I could feel the heat and smoke stinging my eyes, and smell the scent of death and decay as I walk to the center. The barriers around me were quite a distance away although I can’t see them, I can sense them and in some reality marbles they are portrayed as mountains or cliffs, but here it seems the waste land goes on forever.

** _CTS level 12 commencing in...3…_ **

I bring up my sword.

_ **2…** _

I check my surroundings, I can already feel the rumbling of the black earth below me.

_ **1...begin…** _

And hands punch through the ground all around me. I wait for them to reveal themselves, their entire gruesome bodies. As they dig themselves out of the ground and rise to their feet they form weapons made from fire and black stone. Each one is different in some way and each one knows how to use them.

They snarl and growl at me, an army of molten zombies. I bring my sword up to my eyes and flip it so I can see what is behind me. They circle me, an army of at least fifty, with skin melting off parts of their limbs and lava pouring from the openings.

They move, one lunges at me swinging for my head with a blazing battle axe. I block with my sword, and spin under it slashing the demon in two across its abdomen. Dragging my sword with me I carry on slicing through the next three burning bodies behind and they crumble back into the earth.

In instances with multiple enemies the key is to keep moving, if you stand still they swarm and things can get out of control quickly, so I continue to sweep between them cutting through anything I can.

I duck low dodging a sharp stone blade, then bring my sword up and slice through its head. I turn quickly to the bodies behind me and block three attacks, I leap back then duck low spinning around to the back of another demon. I stab into its back and finish the move with a clean cut to its neck. As the head falls to the ground I kick it into the next group of burning flesh barreling towards me, it hits them and they explode into fire and embers.

Things seemed to be going smoothly, I was taking them down with no signs of a problem until, I got to the last group of ten.

There was a glitch, I could sense it. My enemies are flickering in front of me as if they are wavering in and out of existence. As they attack their bodies have become almost invisible to my blade, I couldn’t land any hit, it was as if they weren’t physically there. But I was, and although I tried my best to defend myself, I was failing.

It was at least five minutes before the barriers came down and my father was able to override the system. But the damage was done, I suffered a concussion and was losing a lot of blood. It took a week to recover with mage healing and medical treatments, and although my body had recovered, my mind still held a fear for that one level. I guess you could say I was traumatized by it, I had never forgotten it...until just recently.

“Rachel!” Achilles says hands on my shoulders looking into my eyes.

I snap out of whatever phase I was in.

“Yo! Wake up girl! You’ve got some serious fighting to do soon.” He shakes his head. “Are you ok?”

And my body does that thing again, where I lose control of it and latch on to the closest human being to me. I hold him against me so tightly, just feeling the warmth and safety of someone else was all that I had left.

“Achilles... I-I am so happy to have met you, it really means the world to me. I want you to know that. I want you to know that I will never forget the fun we had on the beach or how high you got from smoking my weed. I wished we had more time together….”

He pulls away from me, hands on my hips.

“I wasn’t “that” high.” He rolls his eyes. “You’re starting to worry me, it’s almost like you are certain you won’t make it out of here...ali…” he stops himself as his words express exactly what I’m thinking and he knows it. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” He whispers.

I know he has the best intentions, but there is nothing anyone can do about my situation.

“Thank you.” I reply and kiss his cheek. “What are you doing down here anyways?”

“Well I was here to wish you luck and I wanted to see you before you make your decision. But now...I don’t know what to think...does anyone else know what’s happening?”

“Yeah, Shirou told me initially, and Cu knows too.”

“You know, I wonder about the last three servants. I haven’t seen or heard much from them. But I have noticed assassin lurking around in the shadows here. Something is up.”

“Assassin...my father was speaking to a man who was about to buy caster and become a master. That may be why I haven’t seen her around.”

“Hmmm...this is all so strange. I agree, something is not right, but I just don’t know what it is.”

“I know. Me either.” I reply.

“Look, you be careful out there, and if you sense anything get of out there ok?” He places his hands on my cheeks.

“Ok.” I whisper. He kisses my cheek.

“I will be in the private section with my master watching, if anything happens I’m jumping in.”

“You can’t Achilles.”

“What do you mean I can’t?”

“There are barriers around the entire arena, if you interfere it could hurt me more than what is happening in the reality marble itself. Disrupting the reality could kill me.”

“Shit…” he curses and wraps his arms around me.

“There’s nothing you can do for me at this point.” I say. Accepting my fate.”Thank you again.”

Then I let him go and walk out the door towards the arena.

—————————————-


	9. The Final Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soo, I’m this chapter took two days to write and I’ve gone through it I think several times. I’m happy with the results. Although I do struggle with detail sometimes. When I wrote the first chapter I had no idea what I was going to do with this story. But I actually surprised my self with the ending. It’s almost finished I think one more chapter and that’s it’s. Hope you like it

I lean against the stadium entrance wall, listening to the sounds of the audience and announcer. Fifteen more minutes and I begin this fucked up experiment. I close my eyes and wait for my name to be called, but my heart aches. _I wish I could see Cu one more time, just once, I would give anything to feel him again, to kiss him again_...

“Rachel?” A voice says panic stricken.

I glance over to my right to see Shirou walking briskly towards me. He places his hands on my shoulders and looks me directly in the eyes.

“You need to get out of here now! It’s not safe they are planning something while you’re inside the stadium.”

But he’s telling me everything I already know.  
“I know... but how am I supposed to leave?” I ask.

“I can get you out if you come with me now.”

“Ok...but...have you seen lancer? I was hoping to…”

He shakes his head.  
“Lancer is...gone...he didn’t stand a chance against Assassin and Caster. This is why we need to go now!”

My heart thumps painfully, and tears stream down my cheeks. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.

He takes me takes my hand and begins to pull me down the hall away from the arena. Everything seems to be happening so quickly, I can barely catch up with my feelings. I am all but numb right now.

“And where do you think you’re going?” My father says stepping out of a side room ahead of us.

Shirou steps in front of me and materializes his blades.

My father laughs.  
“Good luck with that Shirou, your master has used a command seal for this, or did you forget?”

He snarls and grips his blades.  
“Stay behind me Rachel.” He says pushing me back further.

“It is time Rachel, out of the way Shirou or I’ll have your master end your existence here before the war even begins!”

“I’m not moving Lev.” Shirou snaps.  
There was a long pause between us.

** _Rachel Diamond! Please enter the arena!_ **

The announcer calls over the PA system. I close my eyes, this is it, there is nothing anyone can do to stop this. I just have to accept it, but I’m not going down without a goddamn fight, and if I win, I’m taking down the entire organization and my father down with it. Everyone involved will pay for this, for what they’ve done to me.

I place a hand on Shirou’s back.  
“Thank you Shirou, but I need to follow through with this. This is my purpose.”

He turns slightly towards me.  
“Don’t do this Rachel! It’s not what you think it is.” He pleads.

“I know.” I reply and turn away from him, stepping towards the arena entrance.

“That’s a good girl.” My father calls to me, and I leave them both behind as I walk up the entrance way and into the open.

There are thousands here watching me. They encircle me in the stadium, waiting for me to start my “demonstration of power.” They cheered as I entered, screaming wildly, unaware of what is really happening.

I walk towards the stone pillar placed in the middle of it all, containing my weapon of choice. I take its hilt and draw it out forcefully. The crowd erupts in cheers as I hold it up in front of me. The pillar disappears into the ground and I turn facing the entrance way giving Shirou one last look. I scan the audience for the rest of the servants and what Achilles had told me was true. We are missing some, Cu Chullain, the man I had fallen for, is gone. Assassin and caster are not present here either. The only servants left in the crowd are, Gil, Achilles and Shirou. _Wait...where is Hercules?...Shit! What is his role in this game?_

** _CTS level twelve will commence in two minutes._ **

“Level twelve?” I gasp, begging for this not to be the underworld reality marble.

I grip my blade in both hands and wait. Everyone falls silent, except for a quiet snicker I can hear just ahead of me. I look up to see Gil with that annoying permanent smirk on his face. He angers me so much, the way he is just rubs me the wrong way. I glare at him locking eyes with his.

** _Level twelve, commencing in...3…_ **

_ **2…** _

Everyone clicks the button their reality glasses turning them on, and they form over their eyes.

** _1…_ **

And just as before, I am pulled into the dark smokey wasteland of the underworld reality marble. The heat stings my eyes as black oily ash falls from the sky and the audience melts away.

“No, please no!.” I cry, and swallow hard, pushing my fear back down so I can think clearly. Then I feel it, the rumbling of the earth and I hear the grinding sounds of dead bodies digging themselves out of the burning crust.

They punch through the ground, hands made of burning flesh. I bring up my sword just as before, turning it so I can see what is behind me and get ready for the attack. They slither out, bodies pouring molten lava from open wounds, their eyes watch me, orbs of smoking flame that shake your very soul. There are hundreds of them, growling at me, sparking my terror and worst fears.

They form their weapons and bear their teeth. I turn myself slowly watching each of them, who will move first.

Suddenly, three lunge at me from behind, each swinging battle axes left and right. I leap back dodging their blades, but I’m too close to the ghouls behind me. I take a hard hit to my shoulder with a stone hammer, it sears my armor as I push it back off of me. I force the hammer to the side the slash at the demon cutting its head off. It crumbles to the ground, and within seconds I’m swarmed by them. The only way out of this swarm is to use some mana, but can you fight fire with fire? I can only try.

I draw mana and with a small incantation I ignite my sword and drive it into the ground, sending a wave of explosion out, throwing the first line of ghouls back twenty feet. I have time and an advantage now, I ready myself for another attack. I start to move through them as quickly as possible anticipating their strikes one by one. I block and dodge sweeping my sword through limbs and heads, basically whatever I can catch my blade on I was swinging for it.

I face off with three, as the others regroup around me. I throw my sword into the head of one, it stabs into its forehead and as it falls I run towards it leaping up onto the sword, I push off back flipping in the air and I let out a barrage of fire balls that spiral around the wasteland. Each creating a massive explosion disintegrating anything in its way. Bodies explode, and pieces of ghouls decorate the area. I land on my feet and lunge for my sword picking it up quickly.

I am down to ten ghouls, just like before. We stand off, this time with no glitch. It was only a matter of seconds where I had destroyed the last of them, cutting through their bodies or shattering them into pieces with my fire balls.

As the last ghoul goes down, the barriers lift and the reality disappears into tiny fractals of light and I am placed back into the arena with the audience going wild around me.

A great display of strength and power from Rachel Diamond! It is no wonder she is undefeated in her ranks. Rachel you may take you leave, your next viewing will commence in five minutes. The announcer calls. I bow to everyone, but something isn’t right. We’re missing something, where the hell is Hercules?.

I make my way towards the arena entrance and stop in complete shock.

_ **Servant level five commencing in...3…** _

I look up to the sound in disbelief. This can’t be!

** _2…_ **

The crowds gasp, and some whisper in panic to each other.

“Get out of there!” Achilles yells.

** _1…_ **

_Too late…_

I am suddenly pulled into a large open coliseum of ruins, similar to what you would see gladiators fight in. I am alone, with no audience from what I can see. I grip my sword waiting for what is to come. Not only am I in the servant reality marble, I am at level five. The chances of me surviving, aren’t good.

_W__as this my father's plan all along? To watch me die in his arena?_ I begin to sob falling to my knees. _This doesn’t make sense!_

“Why?!” I scream into the air. My voice echoes around me, and a loud roar screams back. I stand slowly.

Another roar from a familiar voice. I wince knowing exactly who it is and between two white crumbling pillars he appears. He seemed bigger now than he did before, and stronger. We wears a gladiator's belt, pants and helmet plated in gold and carries an invisible weapon.

“Hercules! Please stop! Don’t do this!” I cry surrendering. But he keeps walking towards me, in long slow ground shaking strides.

As he approaches he picks up speed, and in a flash he was gone, I whip around in an attempt to catch a glimpse of him. He appears suddenly in front of me swinging his invisible blade, there were slight waves of what looked like vibrations coming off of it, making it almost visible. But you can only see them if you look closely, thankfully I saw them just in time, I jumped back somersaulting over my back dodging the strike. The tip just nicks my cheek as I come back up onto my feet. I regain my footing and bring up my sword in shaking hands.

He disappears once again and reappears this time behind me, swinging horizontally. I force a fireball to the ground leveraging myself as I leap over the strike. I land on my feet but Hercules has already began his next attack he appears by my side and slams a gigantic foot into my ribs. I fly through the air hitting the barriers breaking several ribs in the reprocess. I hit the ground hard landing on my stomach knocking the wind out of me. I cry out silently in pain, as the air hitches in my throat.

Catching some breath I scream. “Somebody help me!” . _But no one can help me, I know this._

He charges me again, barreling in at an incredible speed. I dodge his strike just barely missing his blade as it smashes into the barrier cracking it. That’s not supposed to happen, the barriers are meant to be unbreakable.

I tumble to the left, holding my broken ribs with one hand and my sword in the other. He charges again, this time I draw mana and ignite my sword I run forward towards him. He sweeps his blade from the left to right vertically, I duck low, and slide on the tops of my boots, leaning back underneath the strike. I come around to his back and drive my sword into his calf, he roars in pain and comes down to one knee. I pull it from his leg and in three leaps I jump up onto his shoulders drawing mana all at the same time. I whip my sword around pouring everything I have into it and stab it through his head, and my fire finishes the blow with an explosion that sends me flying through the air once again. I land on my back on the ground tumbling and skidding to a stop.

Silence... I waver in and out of consciousness. The explosion has broken a few more ribs and one has punctured my lung. I begin to cough, as blood spews out my mouth. A sharp pain in my leg, I must have fractured some bones there too as I hit the ground. I force myself up by my forearms and look up. My enemy, although headless, is still standing, his arms stretched out letting the burning flames engulf his body. But suddenly they die out, and slowly his body begins to mutate back into its normal self. His shoulders form, his neck and head melt back to its original state.

“What?!...no…!” I cry. _How is that possible. I killed him, he was dead! How?_

He is back in full form now baring his teeth at me. He lifts his head back and laughs.

I rise to my feet only to fall once more, kneeling is all I can do. I weep in my defeat,_ I don’t want to die, I want to live, there are so many things I still want to do_. Cu flashes through my mind once more, _I would give anything to see him again._

Hercules readies his weapon once more, this is it, I draw as much mana as I possibly can. Letting the earth guide its magic through my circuits. I call out to it, I embrace every ounce of power it has and open myself to its greatness.

He strides forward towards me weapon raised high above him. He leaps into the air and I cross my arms then let it all out in one blazing shock. A giant shield forms ahead of me taking the brunt of the hit. His blade makes contact and my shield forces him back. He lands feet away from me, sliding to a stop staring at me. I hold my magic shield high, ready for the next hit.

Hercules brings up his blade once again, but as he moves we hear the sound of chains clinking together. Five portals open up around him in the sky and chains shoot out from them binding his body in a tight grasp.

Still kneeling I let my shield go and my power flicker out. Then a portal opens up in front of me a short distance away, and through that portal Gilgamesh steps out.

“Gil?...How di…” I whisper.

He chuckles.  
“You think a mages barrier can keep the Gates of Babylon out?... Stupid girl.” He smirks at me.

“Are you here to kill me then?”

And to my surprise his eyes smooth out and his smirk turns into a pitiful frown. He shakes his head and walks towards me.

“Kill you?...no...I was wrong about you. A mage with your power deserves more than this sad defeat.”

He is within inches of me now. He bends over so he is eye level to me and lifts my chin to wipe the blood and tears off my face.

“And besides, you still have to kneel before me.” He says casually and winks.

I laugh through a choking breath and blood.  
“Does.. this count?... I’m... already in position.” I reply in a raspy voice.

He runs his hand along the side of my face and smiles genuinely.  
“I’ll accept this broken down version, but you still have some groveling and worshiping to do. So don’t die on me ok?” He kisses my forehead.

I laugh through my pain.  
“Ok...deal.” I whisper.

He stands and looks back at Hercules who is struggling to unchain himself.

“Gil!...” I call to him.

He looks back at me grinning.  
“Yeah?”

“Kick his ass..”

“Of course! That's what I do.” He chuckles and with a flick of his hand hundreds of small portals open up around Hercules, Gil lowers his hand and a barrage of swords plummet from the sky and impale him. He screams out in pain shaking the ground.

It was then I succumbed to my injuries, as my left lung collapses completely and I reach respiratory failure, I fall to the ground. My vision begins to blur, and the only thing I see now are streaks of golden light. I close my eyes only for a second.

Silence, except for the sound of footsteps. Then a feeling of being lifted up as strong arms wrap around me. I lay my head back barely conscious.

“Stay with me girl.” A voice whispers.

“Good job Gilgamesh. Now take my daughter to the front of the house, Maris is waiting with the medics. He will take her from there.”

“Yes master.”

My mind knew what was happening in this moment, but my body was dying. I couldn’t even lift my head, and as we walked the halls I drifted off into darkness.

————————————-


	10. Test subject 207

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter in this book! I’m a little sad, although I do believe this could carry on, I need to finish my other books though. If you would like to see more from this book feel free to comment. I’m game for anything! Cheers!

Test subject: 207

Upon receiving her into care, Rachel was in critical condition. She was suffering from respiratory failure due to a punctured lung. She had multiple rib, shoulder and leg fractures. Her heart was fluctuating between atrial fibrillation and ventricular bradycardia, which we were only able to control with cardioversion shock treatments, seven in total. 

She was severely anemic due to internal bleeding from some of her organs but our surgical procedures were able to stop the bleeding completely and with five pints of packed red cells infused we were able to restore enough blood for her magic circuits to take over the healing process.

It was nearly two weeks of healing her body back to a normal functional state. Then experimentation began, Rachel has exceeded all expectations ten times over. Her bloodline is the key to a successful bond between servant and magus. Her magic circuits, are so pure she can withstand almost any experiment we put her through with little pain.

Three weeks into our diagnostic testing, specifically the ultrasound probe, we discovered her to be carrying a child. This was shocking, considering we had no idea how this could have. happened. Lev had assured us Rachel had never left her home, and had never fornicated with anyone before. This involved more research through her memories. The memory analysis report was astonishing, not only is she carrying a servants child, the child is the result of the Demi-God Cu chullain.

This is a breakthrough in our work. All of our subjects previously had been artificially inseminated, and not with servant DNA. Thus proving that a heroic spirit can bear children after being summoned and it just happened to be, out of chance, that the servant had chosen one of the oldest and strongest magus bloodlines. 

We will be studying the fetus over the next nine months and record its growth patterns, brain development, and magic circuit growth specifically. We are lucky to have Rachel, with her circuits alone, she will be able to deliver the baby and survive its power. 

After the baby is conceived, we will attempt to bond it to another heroic spirit, carrying on with the designer-baby idea, making he/she, sex is undetermined, a Demi-god servant, similar to having two heroic spirits in one body. This child will be our next generation of soldier to aide in our fight for survival. 

I have decided to eliminate the artificial insemination process completely, and move onto the more physician form. In each war we will choose a magus to reproduce with a servant to create our new line of soldiers. We can only hope that their circuits are durable enough to withstand the delivery of such powerful beings. If this fails, then Rachel will need to carry as many children as possible. It is unfortunate we can not permanently summon a servant to keep the insemination process constant. We can only do what we can.

In conclusion,  
We will monitor Rachel and the child until delivery, then carry on the experiments with the new child. Rachel will bear another more children at some point in time and the cycle will begin again. 

-Marisbury Animusphere


End file.
